Lead Quietly

Achieving Business Excellence - Words of Wisdom from John Spence

2009-11-11T06:26:00.004-06:00

Words of Wisdom

Keys to Success in Business and Life

Attitude is everything. Be positive, optimistic, engaging, spirited and happy. People like to be around happy people.

Build your house on a solid rock of education. Be a dedicated lifelong learner. Be curious. Ask lots of questions. Be an absolutely superb listener.

Take a risk, try something new. Life is a bold adventure or nothing at all.

Your integrity and your reputation are all you have, guard them carefully.

Surround yourself with smart, values-driven and caring friends, and then don’t be afraid to ask for, and give them, lots of help.

To be truly successful in life, find something you are passionate about and follow it with gusto.

Take good care of yourself. Health, vibrancy and vitality are essential for a long, happy and successful life.

There is more opportunity than you could possibly imagine, but you have to go look for it.

Lasting success does not come from chance, fate or good luck. Be well prepared, have a plan, set clear goals and remain focused on them regardless of circumstances or difficulties.

No success is ever achieved without diligence, hard work and unrelenting persistence in the face of inevitable challenges and failures.

Be kind and fair. Stay humble. Treat everyone with respect. Give back, help others, help your community.

via johnspence.com

Just doing my normal morning reading (Google Reader and TwitterGadget) and I came across this work by author John Spence.

I was inspired by both the simple list and the video. My favorite from the list:
"Be kind and fair. Stay humble. Treat everyone with respect. Give back, help others, help your community."

All nicely stated.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly.
Don

Posted via web from Intersectable

Reinventing Leadership In The Age of Collaboration - FP Posted

2009-11-07T16:08:00.002-06:00

In his book, Leadershift, author Emmanual Gobillot, a consultant and speaker with a wide audience in Europe, describes how to adapt traditional leadership roles and a develop a new business model for success. Leadershift explores the world of mass collaboration--that is, the collective actions of large numbers of people working independently of organizations and institutions. Gobillot argues that social, collaborative and virtual networking have far deeper implications than just changing the way we work or do business. Mass participation makes business a social enterprise, and therefore changing the nature of roles within.

Gobillot argues that leadership during a mass participation era is linked to narrative (story telling) and contribution more than it is to power and prescribed roles. The real challenge with collaboration is that it needs to be implemented with tools that do not currently facilitate it. Engaging in conversations with people that help paint desired pictures of the future, or apply our knowledge of human behavior from brain science research is at odds with the kinds of structures and processes that currently exist in organizations.

via network.nationalpost.com

There are four trends that all suggest that individual experience, skill, effort and power are diminishing in importance in favor of collective experience, skill, and networks.

In this post I also appreciated the definitions of Leader and Ruler supplied by commenter rossbcan:

Leader: One we voluntarily follow because they expose a vision and a place / role for us that is in our self-interest

Ruler: Those we FEAR to cross.

Interesting concepts in new leadership.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly.

Don

Posted via web from Intersectable

7 Visualization Groups On Flickr to Find Inspiration | FlowingData

2009-11-06T17:10:00.001-06:00

It's a great place to find inspiration for infographics and visualizations or to just browse the giganto collection of work from others.

via flowingdata.com

It is fascinating to see how people visualize a concepts that are beyond numbers, charts, and graphs.

Posted via web from Intersectable

Just Ask Leadership - Do you look good from below?

2009-09-26T11:00:00.003-05:00

via amazon.com

This week I have been devouring the book, Just Ask Leadership: Why Great Managers Always Ask the Right Questions by Gary B Cohen.

Expect that you will be find me sharing a number of nuggets from this good book. Like what often happens, I end up defacing the book with my notes and circles. I'll share some of these nuggets.

You've likely seen the Truman quote above from other sources, "It is amazing what you can accomplish......." The point, however, that I circled was actually the Captain Symonds quote where he proposes, " A lot of folks.....make it too far in this business because they look a lot better from above than they do from below."

This quote reminded of a the Leadership Acid Test that wrote in 2007 when I proposed a good test of leadership:

Pick a Leader with a title. If that Leader no longer had a title, would you still follow him/her. Would the leader still have influence?

It is another way of suggesting that leaders need to look good from below. Without a title, would you still look good from below; would you still be leading?

And maybe, looking good from below will ultimately cause them to look even better from above.

There are more nuggets worthy of sharing. Expect more as I continue to deface this book.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly and watch your looks.

Don

Posted via web from Intersectable

The Collaboration Imperative - Vineet Nayar - Harvard Business Review

2009-09-24T19:26:00.001-05:00

This is the Version 2.0 era. We have seen the rise of Web 2.0 technologies; companies are using Enterprise 2.0 tools; and in the aftermath of the recent financial crisis, the world's leaders are trying to create Capitalism 2.0. As companies wade through these challenging times, I see a distinct shift towards another new paradigm: Collaboration 2.0.

There's growing recognition everywhere of the need for corporations to collaborate with government, with customers, with NGOs, with stakeholders--and even with competition. In order to survive, business requires the cover of a collaborative ecosystem that will probably render obsolete traditional views of competition.

Smart companies have realized the need to reinvent and align employees' roles with organizational goals in a democratic way,

via blogs.harvardbusiness.org

I appreciate the imperative that drives an organization to collaborate with employees, partners, and stakeholders. The classic model where managers dictate seems unsustainable in today's environment.

This article reminded me of a quote from Peter Drucker:

“The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell.
The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.”

For me the article compels me as a non-manager leader to continue to ask for an opportunity to collaborate and have impact.

Thanks for reading.
Please lead quietly,
Don

Posted via web from Intersectable

Shopping for School Supplies: Are Calculators getting heavier?

2009-09-07T08:40:00.001-05:00

I was surprised with the message from today's Office Depot shopping experience. Are these calculators too heavy to pick up?

Have a good Labor Day.

Posted via email from Intersectable

What 21st Century Educators (Leaders) Need To Learn To Survive

2009-09-07T06:17:00.001-05:00

Eight Habits of Highly Effective 21st Century Teachers

via masternewmedia.org

I was struck when reading an article about the skills that modern teacher need in survive and thrive in a changing learning environment that these same skills are the skills that modern leaders will need.

In my LeadQuietly thinking, the match is nearly perfect and author Andrew Churches could literally search and replace teacher with leader and submit the article to almost any modern leadership blog.

My key takeaway on the education side is that we expect our teachers to lead and innovate with the pay and status of an assembly line worker. Makes me go hmmmm.

Posted via web from Intersectable

A Road Map to Success | FlowingData

2009-09-07T04:19:00.001-05:00

via flowingdata.com

This map originated in 1913. The roadblocks to success seem not to have changed.

Posted via web from Intersectable

Saying Goodbye to a Favorite Blog - Slow Leadership

2009-08-31T22:17:00.001-05:00

I am sad to say goodbye to one of my longtime favorite blogs. Carmine Coyote of the Slow Leadership blog is retiring and signs off with a GOODBYE post.

Slow Leadership was one of only a handful of leadership blogs that really reflected the same leadership concepts that I tried to convey in my Lead Quietly blog.

I cited Slow Leadership several times within my posts. Here is my farewell tribute to Slow Leadership with some of my highlights:

From - The Egotistical (non-quiet) Leader

I read a very insightful article on Slow Leadership where the focus was on the egoistical leader and the impact of their posture,

Do we want to live in a world where politeness, gratitude, understanding, honesty, ethical dealing, and patience have become extinct? Where everyone is locked into their own bubble of petty concerns and nobody cares about anything else? Where rising to the top in career and financial terms means opting out of involvement in “unproductive” activities like friendship, helping others, and just taking time to appreciate the beauty and wonder of the world itself?

The basis for quiet leadership must remain altruistic. We must remain true to our beliefs and lose an occasional argument in order to win the debate. Stay the quiet course. And when we succeed, as the Slow Leadership article cited, "our joys and triumphs are greater when shared."

I appreciate the insight offered by Slow Leadership. I remain optimistic that an egotism epidemic can be suppressed with Slow and Quiet Leadership.

From - Build Community - Start simply with smiles and thanks

In a recent post at Slow Leadership, Carmine Coyote wrote about The Power of Gratitude. The post suggest that gratitude is a "major constituent in the glue that holds together groups of all sizes, from a few friends to society as a whole."
This definition places gratitude, which generally starts out with a simple thank you, in a very exalted role. You might debate as to whether gratitude is more or less important than honesty, trust, or service in building community. However, we can immediately agree there is nothing easier than a simple "thank you."

Carmine - THANK YOU for sharing your insight. You will be missed.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly and SLOWLY.

Don

Posted via email from Intersectable

Making Big with Small

2009-07-25T06:39:00.001-05:00

Four Lessons in The Art of the Small
So our little metaphor — of drops of water falling on an ocean, or on a rock — contains in it four lessons that we’ll call The Art of the Small (only slightly related to the Jedi Force technique):

1. One person can make an impact. Don’t feel that it’s hopeless. You don’t need to be someone famous or powerful to have an impact. You can make a difference, you can change things — if you focus on The Art of the Small.

2. Concentrate your efforts on smaller and smaller areas. When your efforts are diffused over a wide area, they won’t have much of an impact. So focus on smaller areas, and your efforts will be felt more fully. It could take time for change to happen, but keep that focus narrow.

3. Try to find an area that will cause a tipping point. You’ll have the biggest impact if you can change something that will in itself cause further changes — the rock that causes the avalanche. This isn’t an easy thing, to find that pressure point, that spot that will cause everything else to change. It takes practice and experience and luck and persistence, but it can be found.

4. Don’t try to beat an ocean. You’ll lose. Instead, focus on small changes that will spread.

via zenhabits.net

I was inspired by The Art of the Small: How to Make an Impact. Most challenging of the four lessons is "Try to find a tipping point." This is one of the reasons why I like to explore at the intersections of ideas. Perhaps I'll be lucky to find an intersection that will provide an easy tipping point.

It seems pretty intersectable.
Don

Posted via web from Intersectable

Edge: BETTER THAN FREE By Kevin Kelly

2009-07-21T04:13:00.001-05:00

When copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied.

Well, what can't be copied?

There are a number of qualities that can't be copied. Consider "trust." Trust cannot be copied. You can't purchase it. Trust must be earned, over time. It cannot be downloaded. Or faked. Or counterfeited (at least for long). If everything else is equal, you'll always prefer to deal with someone you can trust. So trust is an intangible that has increasing value in a copy saturated world.

There are a number of other qualities similar to trust that are difficult to copy, and thus become valuable in this network economy. I think the best way to examine them is not from the eye of the producer, manufacturer, or creator, but from the eye of the user. We can start with a simple user question: why would we ever pay for anything that we could get for free? When anyone buys a version of something they could get for free, what are they purchasing?

via edge.org

Kelly goes on to describe eight qualities that are better then free as the basis for future revenue models. With the internet as the ultimate copy machine, the following generatives will continue to add value to this super distribution network:

Immediacy
Personalization
Interpretation
Authenticity
Accessibility
Embodiment
Patronage
Findability

He goes on to propose that money doesn't follow the copies, it follows the path of attention, a Twitterfied notion.

The writing provides some interesting ideas at the intersection of free.
Don

Posted via web from Intersectable

The Social Data Revolution(s) - Now, New, Next - HarvardBusiness.org

2009-07-17T06:02:00.001-05:00

In 2009, more data will be generated by individuals than in the entire history of mankind through 2008.

via blogs.harvardbusiness.org

Clearly, this data revolution will bring lots of opportunity for anyone who can make sense of the data.

Posted via web from It's Intersectable

Count your Money to Feel Happy. Count your Money to Reduce Pain

2009-07-16T05:44:00.001-05:00

A report cited by Science Daily and published in Psychological Science proposes that counting money may make you happy and reduce your level of pain.

In one of the experiments, participants were asked to immerse their fingers in hot water for 30 seconds after counting either paper or money. Those that counted money rated the pain with less intensity.

In another experiment, participants who counted money rather than paper, had lower social distress when playing a computerized game.

Most have us have been taught that "money can buy happiness." But this study suggests that there is some debate at the intersection of money and happiness. What's your thought?

It's intersectable.
Don

Posted via email from It's Intersectable

Exercise and the Brain - Not an obvious intersection

2009-07-15T10:58:00.001-05:00

I was reminded this morning with a video n Why the Brain Craves Sleep and Exercise on the BrainRules blog of the not so obvious intersection between exercise and cognition. I'm a fan of Brain Rules by John Medina and the post's video interview is a good reminder that I have not been diligent in the physical exercise that he nicely ties to a healthy brain. The connection to sleep is more obvious.

Exercise and Learning. It's Intersectable

tags: Exercise, Learning

Posted via email from It's Intersectable

Inaugural Post on Posterous - Looking for Intersections

2009-07-15T08:19:00.001-05:00

I am writing an email that will turn into my inaugural post on Posterous which can also be found at www.intersectable.com.

It occurs to me that my motivation for an online presence is pretty simple. Unlike many authors, consultants, and product marketers who are looking to sell and promote, I use my online presence to primarily discover, learn, and connect.

Intersectable.com is primarily about connecting. I'm fascinated by intersections where things connect. In fact, one of the phrases that I occasionally use is,

Interesting things happen at intersections.

What kind of intersections?

Any kind of intersection. I like to explore any crossroad where you find an intersection of different roads traveled, new ideas, information, learning, trends, people, politics, presentation, or data.

When approaching an intersection you can encounter "interesting" events:

First there is a danger of a collision when approaching an intersection. Some intersections are simply "dangerous".
Second, every intersection offers the possibility of a change in direction, a chance to take a new path.
Third there is an opportunity for a new convergence or a meeting of people, ideas, and information. Innovation could result.

I am starting this blog in the pursuit and discovery of interesting intersections. I'll be looking for intersectables and interesting crossroads. Please stay tuned.

It's Intersectable.

Don

Posted via email from It's Intersectable

Are you a Super Learner? Do a self assessment.

2009-05-13T05:52:00.003-05:00

Are you a super learner?

My recent exploration at the intersection of learning and leadership exposed me to the concept of a super learner. It's a role to which I aspire. I certainly have my share of weaknesses and my opportunity for learning is endless but I wanted a simple list of characteristics that could help me assess my progress.

Here are the characteristics that I would use to describe a super learner:

You live in wonder and have a insatiable curiosity and will to learn.
You are humble and clearly recognize your knowledge gaps and weaknesses.
You are a skilled critical thinker and good at synthetic thinking. You look to connect the dots at the intersection of ideas.
You are patient. Super learners understand that there are no shortcuts or quick fixes.
You accept mistakes as simply a part of learning.
You are self-reliant, self driven and self-motivated. You believe that learning is worth doing for its own sake.
You are media savvy. Super learners live in a state of constant exposure to social media and the associated knowledge. You are well aware of the power of social technology to connect people to people.
You are social and group-oriented. You are able to build networks for collaborating. You are quick to share knowledge.

How did you do?

My eight characteristics were summarized from these resources:
Mission to Learn blog: 5 Traits of the Super Learner
Harvard Magazine Article (pdf): Secrets of the Super Learners
Accenture Video: Super Learners

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly.
Don

Learning: Make it Informal

2009-05-05T20:58:00.004-05:00

I have a question for leaders who recognize that learning is a critical element of a team's success. "What can leaders do to cultivate learning across their teams?"

It is a broad question with a complex answer. As I wrote in a previous post, the space is vast and multi-dimensional. This is illustrated in my exploratory mindmap.

I can't pretend that I understand the entirety of this space. However, I discovered a single learning concept that resonated with me. Relative to my question, I found Informal Learning a compelling, thought-provoking and amazingly accessible concept. Simply stated, leaders should build and cultivate informal learning on their teams.

What is Informal Learning?
As Jay Cross writes on his Informal Learning blog, "People acquire the skills they use at work informally — talking, observing others, trial-and-error, and simply working with people in the know."

Informal learning can characterized as learning that:

Takes place outside educational establishments.
Does not follow a specified curriculum.
Will likely be sporadic, incidental, and problem-related.
Experienced directly as a function of everyday life.

Cross goes on to say that "informal learning is the unofficial, unscheduled, impromptu way most people learn to do their jobs." If you'd like to hear Jay describe informal learning, here is a video he supplied in 2007.

Informal learning is the Rodney Dangerfield of learning. It just doesn't get respect. In fact, Allen Tough in his paper, The Iceberg of Informal Adult Learning suggests that about 80% of learning is informal and quite invisible like the iceberg. However, the other 20%, this is learning that is formal, and institutionally organized, get the lion's share of the attention and the largest share of most organization's training budget.

Some even go so far as to suggest that organizations are spending 80% of their training budget to accomplish a mere 20% of their learning. There is clearly some debate about the validity of this comparison. Despite this, in my experience, organizations don't give much attention to the power and potential of informal learning.

The question for leaders is, "How can you support the growth of informal learning in your team?

In a Lead Quietly manner, I decided to look for common threads and identify a handful of principles where leaders could focus their attention in their effort to build informal learning.

Here are the Lead Quietly Principles of Building Informal Learning:

It's Personal
We've always known that different people have different learning styles. My approach to learning; as much as I attempt to build this skill, is not necessarily the optimal approach for anyone else on my team. First and foremost, a leader trying to expand team learning should recognize that any program or learning initiative should account for differences in learning style.

Secondly, leaders should look to understand how their colleagues learn. Although numerous learning style theories exist, I'd encourage leaders to pick a single framework like Fleming's VARK model which divides leaders into four groups:

visual learners
auditory learners
reading/writing-preference learners
kinesthetic learners or tactile learners

Recently, I've started asking applicants during hiring interviews, "How did you learn what you know?" The varied responses led me to believe that you can simply ask and observe in order to build understanding.

With information about personal learning styles, you are in a better position to build informal learning opportunities across your team.

It's Social, It's Networked, It's Collaborative, It's about Community.
A paradox of the study of informal learning is that despite the fact that learning style is personal, informal learning is more likely to flourish in an environment based on strong community. Teams easily form communities of practice where they share a passion for a topic or solution. Teams will build community to help each other, share, and learn from each other.

The Lead Quietly blog has focused extensively on approaches to building community and collaboration across teams. And the not-so-surprising finding about community is that the identical community-building approaches apply to both collaboration and learning. Teams that excel at learning, collaboration, and community are teams with a foundation on personal relationships, gratitude, trust, passion, and sharing. The recommendation for leaders, build a strong community for active learning.

It's about Sharing and Conversation.
Jay Cross says in his video, "The most powerful instructional technology ever invented is human conversation." In his book, Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways That Inspire Innovation and Performance (Essential Knowledge Resource), he defines conversation as the "stem cells for learning." Through conversation, learning is created and shared in a single process.

As a leader, you simply want to encourage sharing and conversation. As Catherine Lombardozzi writes in Breathing Life into an Informal Learning Strategy,

Sharing expertise and collaborating with others needs to be encouraged, recognized, and rewarded. Reaching out to others for support of learning needs to be viewed as a savvy strategy for getting up to speed and getting ahead. There has to be some room for informal conversation and sharing experiences. In an economic environment where time is increasingly scarce, interpersonal interactions my be undervalued and underutilized, and that will have serious consequences on learning in our organizations.

Leaders should not only participate in the conversation but should mentor, model, and coach with those conversations. I now recognize that when I sit with a co-worker and spend time discussing and exploring, I am creating an informal learning opportunity for both of us. I need to do more of this.

Support Informal Learning with Tools and a PLE
Almost any discussion of modern trends in learning, be it defined as informal learning, social learning, network learning, or e-learning will end up talking about the tools. As a leader, we should encourage the use of tools that support the discovery, sharing and conversation about learning.

When I propose this, I am not suggesting that your team needs to purchase a sophisticated learning management system. I'm really saying, use the common and readily available tools that are already at your disposal. Jane Hart on her Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies site surveys both learners and learning professionals to identify "Top Tools". Hart's top ten list for learning tools includes common and popular tools like:

Google Search
YouTube
FireFox
Twitter
Wikepedia
Delicious
Facebook
Google Reader
Gmail

The list is likely familiar. As you use these tools they collectively evolve into a Personal Learning Environment (PLE), a set of tools that you can use to support and manage your learning. Your encouragement and modeling will grow the tool and PLE concept across your team. My PLE is based on tools like FireFox, Google Reader, YouTube, ScribeFire, Twitter, BigTweet, and iGoogle.

Final Thoughts
Informal learning doesn't require big investments, a budget, or even a formal plan. With awareness, modeling, strong community, and support of a team's leader, informal learning can become viral. It's all about learning. A team of learners can tackle any challenge.

Thanks for reading. Learning? Make it informal.
Don

Leadership Mission: Leading to Learning

2009-04-14T06:44:00.003-05:00

How does a leader lead a team to learning?

It's a question that I have been pondering and researching for the last week. As leaders, we recognize that learning is critical. I personally love to learn in a variety of areas. There is so much to learn in tools, technology, information, data, personal development, and of course, the basis for this blog, leadership.

However, I frequently see instances where that love of learning isn't shared. Although I can't believe that anyone would hate to learn, you still see people around you who resort to old thinking, old and out-of-date approaches. Or you find people who feel that seem to feel above learning as they know what they need to know. These are people who decline an opportunity to try something new, to experiment, to test.

The question of my current learning mission is, "How can you lead a team to learning?" It's a mission that I set our in my previous post, Big on Learning, Myopic on Learning.

My first discovery in this space is, "This is huge." Theories abound. Tools are plenty. Opinions are prominent.

Along the way, I was inspired by some of the work of Robin Good, in particular a mind map that he shared on MindMeister, Best Online Collaboration Tools 2009. With leading team learning as a big topic, it struck me that a MindMeister map might be the perfect organizer. Here is an embedded snapshot:

In the map, I broke the topic in four primary elements, the concepts, the resources, organizations, and tools. Over the coming weeks, I will share my evolving thoughts about leading team learning.

In the mean time, I invite you to browse the map, click through to my links and resources, and please comment or even add to my map. I value your insight.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly and remember, it's all about learning.
Don

Big on Learning, Myopic on Learning

2009-03-29T19:21:00.003-05:00

Learning and leadership are irrefutably linked. The link is so important that learning took the first position in the Lead Quietly commandments that I proposed in February.

I have written about learning frequently. My personal carnival of learning at Lead Quietly would include these posts:

These posts all stress the importance of learning to leadership. I truly believe in the notion as stated by John F Kennedy when he said, "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."

Nevertheless, I feel that my view of learning and leadership is too myopic. Most of my thinking about learning was centered on my own desire to learn and understand as a leader and team member. However, as a leader, we must also strive to create learning environments for all around us. A situation where everyone views learning as indispensable.

In the workplace of days past, any discussion of learning generally led to a discussion about training, likely formal instructor-led training. However, today the opportunities for learning include new, informal collaborative learning approaches. Personal learning should no longer mean a taking class.

In another revelation, I participated in a number of hiring interviews in the past few weeks where I usually asked a question about learning style. I would simply ask, "How did you learn the skills that you know?" I was never impressed if the response was "a class or school." I was impressed if the candidate talked about a number of channels including web sites, forums, blogs, and networks.

This leads me to the theme that I am proposing for the next few weeks on this blog. I want to explore learning for the today's workplace. I'd like to focus on creating a learning environment for not only me but the people around me. I'd like to get some hint about the future of learning. What are the tools that we should be exploring. How do the social media tools fit into this thinking. Who are the thought leaders in learning?

As a new student of learning, I need help. I need the insight of learning experts. What are the approaches and tools that leaders should employ to create a learning environment for everyone on their team? I'll be reading, learning, and studying.

However, I need help. Please send me you thoughts about team and personal learning in a collaborative environment. Use either Twitter or comments to this post.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly and help me better understand learning and increase my view of learning across my team.
Don

Balance in the news

2009-03-24T06:51:00.002-05:00

I appreciate balance. It's a concept that comes with many definitions and many dimensions. This is how I actually view the concept when I say that it is important for leaders to "Stay balanced."

I'm not alone in my desire to seek balance. Here is a carnival of balance from this morning's Google news:

People and organizations in many areas seek balance. It's complex. It's desirable. It's multi-dimensional.

Finally, the balance in the news that I was most excited about this morning is quoted in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis and St. Paul in an article titled, Lots to like in lineup. On the 2009 Minnesota Twins lineup,

It's a lineup balanced with lefthanded, righthanded and switch hitters, and balanced with speed and power potential.

Balance also gives hope.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly. Stay balanced.

Don

Finding the right balance

2009-03-22T08:44:00.004-05:00

I believe that balance in opinion, aspirations, views, collaboration, and politics is a positive force in life and leadership. I believe that a key mission of leadership is to help our teams and organizations find that middle ground where differing opinions can coexist and real strength in purpose and mission can thrive. It is my belief that most leadership challenges do not have black and white answers. The best position on most issues is likely to have some shade of gray.

My explorations and reading this past week brought two examples of "Finding the right balance."

New Dialogue on Abortion
We all recognize the ongoing debate on the abortion issue. It is not my intention to debate this issue on this forum. Nevertheless, the black and whiteness of the opposing perspectives could support a polarizing debate forever. I read with interest this morning in the Star Tribune (yes, I'm old fashioned and I read the paper edition of the newspaper every morning) the article titled "One side tries new strategy in debate over abortion." The article sites that there is a growing trend by organizations to move public opinion on a variety of issues toward solutions instead of polarization. The American mood is showing increasing fatigue with extreme politics whether the issue is abortion, gay marriage, stimulus debate on tax cuts versus spending. I am one of them who is saying, find some common ground at a point where the color is some shade of gray and let's move toward solutions.

The Impact of Money
Another example of balance came from an article on the New Scientist site titled "Why money messes with your mind." Our relationship with money is complex and has many dimensions. This becomes particularly clear when you evaluate the relationship between greed (think Bernard Madoff) and social ethics. The balance message in the article is that there is a positive and desired balance between the pursuit of extrinsic aspirations (money and wealth) and intrinsic aspirations (building personal relationships). In summary, a more balanced relationship with money is better. Although, "we are still a long from knowing why some people appear to go crazy over money", there is recognition that balance is better.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly and stay balanced.
Don

Keeping the Brain Young

2009-03-20T05:27:00.003-05:00

This post is a third post for the week that commemorates Brain Awareness Week. The general message that I am promoting is that your brain is a tool that we must nurture and develop in order to learn and grow.

The Dana Foundation is the founder and primary sponsor of Brain Awareness Week. An exploration of their web site uncovers numerous articles, events, podcasts and more about current brain research. It's an interesting review of the current state of brain research.

On my exploration, I discovered a document titled Q & A - Answering your Questions About Brain Research. I appreciated the simple question and answer format and would recommend the document for anyone who is curious about basic brain functions and the role of the brain in learning, life, and health. A sample of the questions include:

How does the brain work?
How do we learn?
How does the brain influence and regulate the function of the other body systems?
Can the brain heal itself from trauma or injury?
Why do some people develop mental illnesses?

Curious about the brain? This is a nice document.

More than any other question that caught my attention was, How can I keep my brain young?

The list is pretty simple, most of which are very accessible to anyone that want to say vital in life. Here's how to keep your brain young:

Incorporating physical activity—especially aerobic exercise—into our daily schedule, even if only for 10 minutes at a time.
Stimulating our mind with mental activities and novel experiences that challenge the brain and activate new neural pathways.
Interacting with other people and engaging in social activities.
Having a sense of self-worth and self-efficacy, the feeling that what we do matters.
Reducing cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Eating a healthful diet that includes plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables (for antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals) and fatty fish or nuts (sources of Omega-3 fatty acids), and that limits trans fat and saturated fats.
Managing stress and finding healthful ways to cope with high-stress periods.
Getting adequate amounts of sleep—about 8 hours for most adults.
In addition, population-based studies seem to suggest that mild to moderate alcohol consumption—from a couple of drinks a week up to about two a day—is associated with longer life, and in some cases better cognitive functioning. However, it is not at all clear if this is due to a true biological effect of alcohol or because the people who drank alcohol tended to also be doing something else good for their brain health, such as interacting socially.

The answer invites you to work "brain-friendly" activities in your life and to know that it is never too late to start. Brains of any age can benefit.

Final piece of fascinating trivia from the Q&A article:
Did you know that the 3 pound marvel that we know as the brain is typically only 2 percent of our body weight but consumes 20 percent of our oxygen and 20 percent of our bodies energy. It strikes me that the brain is one energy guzzler that we don't' want to go green.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly. Keep your brain young and guzzling.
Don

Brain Rules

2009-03-17T04:27:00.008-05:00

This post is a second post for the week that commemorates Brain Awareness Week. The general message that I am promoting is that your brain is a tool that we must nurture and develop in order to learn and grow.

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by Dr. John Medina is a very interesting and captivating book that presents 12 brain rules for optimizing your .... brain.

I found the book pretty amazing. For a book that is based on substantive scientific research, it is a good page-turner. For those who want the twenty minute overview, I'd encourage you to visit the Brain Rules website for a complete list of rules. Additionally, you can can view fairly comprehensive videos at his site and also on You Tube.

There were several take-aways that resonated with me from the book. Here are some examples:

Exercise benefits muscles and the brain - we know that exercise is good for our bodies. It is incredibly good for the brain. How much? Active people have half the risk of Alzheimer's disease compared to sedentary people. Let's keep up the exercise. I think the crunches will be a little easier with this new information.

Impossible Multitasking - I consider myself to be a great multitasker. At work, colleagues can send me a dozen issues and I can alternate between attention and division to get the the tasks handled. But the reality is that the brain simply cannot multitask. Watch the You Tube video with John's rant about cell phone use in cars.

The Power of Sleep and Naps - Our brains are very active during sleep and continue to develop and rehearse while sleeping. The essential message is that good sleep lead to good brains. Additionally, there is research that suggests that our brain has a period during the day where the benefits of a nap are profound; a nap zone. Research by NASA shows that a 25 minute nap increase pilot performance by 34%. Not a bad return return. How do we convince our employers? A good nap requires a least a cot.

Vision Wins - Brain Rules provides evidence that when it comes to impact, vision wins. Recognition and memory are aided significantly by visual cues in your presentations and documents. When I need to be persuasive, I need to add vision to my presentation.

We are curious explorers - Research with babies suggests that we are natural explorers. Give a baby an object and you will discover the a baby methodically looks to understand. Curiosity is an incredible motivator for learning, growth and problem solving.

Enjoy the book. It is highly recommended. Now it's time for me to exercise and then a nap.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly. Brain rules.
Don

It's Brain Awareness Week - Let's focus on learning

2009-03-16T06:38:00.002-05:00

This week is Brain Awareness Week. Founded by the Dana Foundation, the event promotes that:

Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is an international campaign dedicated to advancing public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research. Founded and coordinated by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives and its sister organization, the European Dana Alliance for the Brain, BAW is now entering its fourteenth year as a catalyst for public understanding of brain science.

I wasn't aware of the event before this past weekend but I have decided that the brain is a nice focus for some learning that I wanted to pursue in a couple of posts this week. This notion started as I was watching the public TV show, "Brain Fitness Program." My curiosity about brain development eventually brought me to the Dana Foundation web site where I became aware of BAW.

Continuous learning is so important to success and the health of your brain is key. In recognition of BAW, let's revisit a couple of "fun" brain/learning posts from my archives.

In Improve Your Brain Power - Use your right brain I encouraged you to develop your brain by switching you mouse to your non-dominant hand.

In Learning to Use the Full Brain, I provided a link where you could experiment with the "Left Brain versus Right Brain test.

The full list Lead Quietly learning posts is here.

I'll focus on the brain in subsequent posts this week.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly and remember, it's all about learning.

Don

Quiet - It is Just a Label, Not a Description

2009-03-01T17:18:00.003-06:00

I believe that the adjective "quiet" is not a great descriptor of the leadership style that I have tried to describe over the last 20 months of writing this blog.

I had a discussion this past week with some of my colleagues and again found that I had to explain that Quiet is really only a label and not really part of the substance. I almost feel that if someone focused on quiet, they might miss the real substance behind the leadership style.

There are better labels. Those more descriptive labels and the posts where I explored these more descriptive styles include:

Bill George - Authentic Leadership "Be Yourself"

Servant Leadership from Quiet Leader Hall of Famer Robert Greenleaf "Servant Leadership"

Leaderful Practice - Shared Leadership from Joe Raelin "We need to be Leaderful not Leaderless"

If you focus on quiet you might miss other concepts that I have tried to communicate. First and foremost are the leadership elements cited in my masthead including community, collaboration, learning, vision, and balance. These concepts have little to do with quiet.

Bottom line: Quiet is not very descriptive. It is however, the label and the brand around which I have blogged in my quest to identify leadership that is simply effective.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly err.... effectively.

Don